A Whole New Mind

Comments (0)

Transcript of A Whole New Mind

Author's findings Main Arguments Counter Arguments Counter-argument“Where a typical human being-whether the Indians I met or their higher-paid counterparts in the United State-can write about four hundred lines of computer code per day, Appligenics applications can do the same work in less than a second. The result: as the scout work gets off-loaded, engineers and programmers will have to master different aptitudes, relying more on creativity than competence, more on tacit knowledge than technical manuals, and more on fashioning the big picture than sweating the details” (page 44) Author's Style Evaluation Essential Question Author's Background Why will Right- Brainers rule the future? Why Right-Brainers Will Rule The Future A Whole New Mind Created by: Claire Erdman, Sola Jeong, Shuan-Yu, and Rachel Gloer Written By: Daniel H. Pink He chose this question to spread awareness of the importance of Right brain thinking today and the impact it will have on the future. Symphony Design Story Empathy Play Meaning “In a world enriched by abundance but disrupted by the automation and outsourcing of white-collar work, everyone, regardless of profession, must cultivate an artistic sensibility. We may not all be Dali or Degas. But today we must all be designers.” (P 69) “Design has also become an essential aptitude because of the quickened metabolism of commerce. Today’s products make the journey from L-Directed utility to R-Directed significance in the blink of an eye.” (P 80) “When so much routine knowledge work can be reduced to rules and farmed out to fast computers and L-Directed thinkers abroad, the more elusive abilities embodied by story become more valuable.” (104) “Story is having another impact on business. Like design, it is becoming a key way for individuals and entrepreneurs to distinguish their goods and services in a crowded marketplace.” (Page 109) “ Narritive medeicine is part of a wider trend to incorporate a R-directed approach to what has long beeen a bastion of L-Directed muscle flexing.” (P 113) “The Conceptual Age can remind us what has always been true but rarely acted upon- that we must listen to each other`s stories and that we are the authors of our own lives.” “Symphony is also an attribute of the brain’s right hemisphere in the literal, as well as the metaphorical, sense.” (P 130) “But today Symphony is becoming an essential aptitude for a much wider swath of the population. The reasons go back to the three forces propelling us out of the Information Age.” ( P 130) “The paradox of prosperity is that while living standards have risen steadily decade after decade, personal, family, and life satisfaction haven’t budged. That’s why more people- liberated by prosperity but not fulfilled by it- are resolving the paradox by searching for meaning.” (Page 35) “Utility is akin to L-directed thinking; significance is akin to R-directed thinking. And, with those two thinking styles, today utility has become widespread, inexpensive, and relatively easy to achieve- which has increased the value of significance.” (P 70) “But Empathy is much more than a vocational skill necessary for surviving twenty-first-century labor markets. It’s an ethic for living.” (Page 165) “And the one aptitude that’s proven impossible for computers to reproduce , and very difficult for faraway workers connected by electrons to match, is Empathy.” (P 161) “In the conceptual age, as we’ll see, fun and games are not just fun and games-and laughter is no laughing matter.” (P 188) “Play is coming a important part of work, business, and personal well being, its importance manifesting itself in three ways: games,humor, and joyfulness.” (P 188) Media References Works Cited The author presents information in a quiz- like fashion to keep readers engaged and to further persuade us into believing that we are taught to think with primarily our left brains. Using this technique also helps readers to remember the point he made, which he takes advantage of several times throughout the book when making his main points. “For example, Daniel Goleman, author of the groundbreaking book Emotional Intelligence, has examined an array of academic studies that have attempted to measure how much IQ (which, like the SAT, measures pure L- Directed Thinking prowess) accounts for career success. What do you think these studies found? Grab a No. 2 pencil and take a guess. According to the latest research, IQ accounts for what portion of career success?

a. 50 to 60 percent

b. 35 to 45 percent

c. 23 to 29 percent

d. 15 to 20 percentThe answer: between 4 and 10 percent. (Confining oneself only to the answers presented is a symptom of excessive L- Directed Thinking.)” Pg. 58 Here, the author uses statistics to convince his audience that schools which focus on R- directed thinking are better overall by bringing up the significantly higher attendance rate at this charter school, which has a strong focus on right brain subjects, compared to the low attendance rate at the average public school, which has a strong focus on left brain subjects. Also, his mentioning of the lack of metal detectors at CHAD suggests that the R- directed focus creates a peaceful, safe atmosphere for students, while public schools have to depend on metal detectors for safety due to the cold, chaotic atmosphere that comes along with the L- directed focus. “While the typical Philadelphia public high school has a daily attendance rate of 63 percent, at CHAD it’s 95 percent. Equally revealing is what isn’t here. CHAD is one of the only high schools in Philadelphia without metal detectors. Instead, when students, teachers, and visitors pass through the front door on Sansom Street, they’re greeted by a colorful mural crafted by the American minimalist Sol Lewitt.” Pg. 73 Again, Pink uses the “quiz tactic” to engage readers and enforce his point that the developed world is moving towards R- directed thinking. By comparing the intended results to the supposed results of a couple decades ago when the focus was on L- directed thinking, the author is leading the reader to come to his point by themselves. This will make the point more valid and valuable to the reader. “In the last few decades, however, that has begun to change. Design has become democratized. If you don’t believe me, take this test. Below are three type fonts. Match the font on the left with the correct font name on the right.

1. A Whole New Mind a. Times New Roman

2. A Whole New Mind b. Arial

3. A Whole New Mind c. Courier New

My guess, having conducted this experiment many times in the course of researching this book, is that most of you completed the task quickly and correctly.* But had I posed this challenge, say, twenty-five years ago, you probably wouldn’t have had a clue.” Pg. 75 Pink often uses stories as examples to prove his points. Here he uses a real life scenario that is parallel to a story told earlier in the chapter. This “hero’s journey” is the transformation of a strictly L- directed approach to one with some R- directed approach. In the end of this story, Denning learns more by taking the R- directed approach, therefore solidifying Pink’s main message that those that take this approach will be the most successful. It showed that even the jobs that once required only left brain thinking now require right brain thinking as well. “Then one day, in a World Bank shake-up, he was booted from a job he loved and banished to the organizational equivalent of Siberia: a department known as “knowledge management,” corporate jargon for how a company organizes its vast reserves of information and experience. Denning became the department’s chief. And--- grudgingly at first--- he underwent a transformation. (Sounds like a hero’s journey, doesn’t it?) As he sought to understand what the World Bank knew--- that is, what knowledge required management--- Denning discovered that he learned more from trading storied in the cafeteria than he did from reading the bank’s official documents and reports. An organization’s knowledge, he realized, is contained in its stories.” Pg.107 Pink uses statistics to support his argument that right brainers are becoming more dominant in today’s market and will become increasingly so in the future. Using statistics establishes a more believable point, and further helps convince the reader that his argument is true. “For instance, one remarkable recent study found that self- made millionaires are four times more likely than the rest of the population to be dyslexic. Why? Dyslexics struggle with L-Directed Thinking and the linear, sequential, alphabetic reasoning at its core. But as with a blind person who develops a more acute sense of hearing, a dyslexic’s difficulties in one area lead him to acquire outsized ability in others.” Pg. 141 Once again, Pink uses a quiz- like setup to introduce and express an important point, which is how big of a role humor, which is a right brain activity, is beginning to play in the work field. This further proves his overall point that right brainers will dominate the future . “It’s a Saturday in June and Mr. Jones sees his next- door neighbor, Mr. Smith, outside and walks toward him. “Hey, Smith,” Jones asks. “Are you using your lawnmower this afternoon?” Smith replies warily, “Uh, yes I am.” Then Jones says:

(a.) “Oh well, can I borrow it when you’re done?”

(b.) “Great. Then you won’t be using your golf clubs. Can I borrow them?”

(c.) “Oops!” as he steps on a rake that nearly hits him in the face.

(d.) “The birds are always eating my grass seed.”The correct punch line, of course, is (b.).” Pg. 196 One of Pink’s techniques is to go back and forth between the differences between labyrinths and mazes to emphasize those differences, and since he mentioned earlier in the passage that our times are like a labyrinth, it also explains how that is so. “But in an age of abundance, we’re no longer in a maze. Today the more appropriate metaphor for our times is the labyrinth. Mazes and labyrinths are often lumped together in popular imagination, but they differ in important ways. A maze is a series of compartmentalized and confusing paths, most of which lead to dead ends. When you enter, your objective is to escape--- as quickly as you can. A labyrinth is a spiral walking course. When you enter, your goal is to follow the path to the center, stop, turn around, and walk back out--- all at whatever pace you choose. Mazes are analytic puzzles to be solved; labyrinths can be centering. You can get lost in a maze; you can lose yourself in a labyrinth. Mazes engage the left brain; labyrinths free the right brain.” Pg. 228 Pink, Daniel H. A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future. New York: Riverhead Books, 2006. Print. BUT... our technology is still improving and we need people inventing them and making them which deals with more "left-brain thinking". Right brainers will rule the future due to the growing importance of design, story, symphony, empathy, play, and meaning in today's work force WELL... But Pink argues that those making and mechanical things can be done overseas for cheaper labors and that is what the companies and factories are doing,in fact, nowadays. Therefore,pink argues that “In a world tossed by Abundance, Asia, and Automation, in which L-Directed Thinking remains necessary but no longer sufficient, we must become proficient in R-Directed Thinking and master aptitudes that are high concept and high touch. We must perform what that overseas knowledge workers can’t do cheaper, that computers can’t do fast, and that satisfies the aesthetic, emotional, and spiritual demands of a prosperous time.” (page 61) Thesis Even innovating and improving mechanics and electronics involve "right-brain thinking", if not more. Pink says that "...because of Abundance, businesses are realizing that the only way to differentiate their goods and services in today's overstocked marketplace is to make their offerings physically beautiful and emotionally compelling. Thus the high-concept abilities of an artist(R-Directed skills) are often more valuable than the easily replicated L-Directed skills of an entry-level business graduate." (Page 55) Media/Extras/Really fun stuff! http://www.examiner.com/article/ap-report-computers-robots-taking-middle-class-jobs

"For more than three decades, technology has reduced the number of jobs in manufacturing. Robots and other machines controlled by computer programs work faster and make fewer mistakes than humans. Now, that same efficiency is being unleashed in the service economy, which employs more than two-thirds of the workforce in developed countries. Technology is eliminating jobs in office buildings, retail establishments and other businesses consumers deal with every day" http://www.manufacturing.net/articles/2011/08/cost-vs-quality-the-dangers-of-outsourcing-design-overseas

“American design and development firms have a genuine understanding of how to gain insight into the needs of users and the opportunities unmet in the marketplace, and there’s much to be said for the proven methodologies of research and design strategy practiced by creative professionals here.Moreover, thinking is not a precision skill like injection mold tool making, or analogous in the least to tedious assembly operations that can be accomplished by inexpensive, unskilled labor. We’ve seen examples of clients trying out the creative services offered overseas, only to return in frustration to U.S. firms after realizing that promised cost savings were illusive at best.While cost will always be an issue for manufacturers, the efficient investment of capital is also a key consideration in the product development cycle. There’s no more important aspect of product development than coming up with the right idea or the optimal design… that’s the foundation for everything to follow. It’s tough to argue with overseas production these days, but innovative thinking is not a place where any firm can afford to cut corners.” Eyes Quiz: Can you tell how a person is feeling just by looking at their eyes?

http://glennrowe.net/BaronCohen/Faces/EyesTest.aspx Smiles Quiz: Do you know when someones REALLY smiling?